Movies

In a year that has seen would-be action heroes Jeff Speakman and Brian Bosworth make well-orchestrated attempts to muscle their way into the action-adventure movie arena, Columbia Pictures is clearly betting that Jean-Claude Van Damme could be the next Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal--or even Arnold Schwarzenegger. "Double Impact," the $15-million action film in which Van Damme plays dual roles, opened well Aug. 9 and has grossed $15.

Nicole Teeny's first feature-length documentary unveils a little-known subculture, one that combines the Good Book with good old-fashioned competitiveness. But the National Bible Quiz Championship, with its teams of Scripture-spouting teens, isn't the main event in "Bible Quiz. " A smart, funny and disarming 17-year-old girl is the heart of this low-key charmer of a coming-of-age story. The intimate film, a prize winner at the Slamdance Film Festival, revolves around the experience of Mikayla Irle, a tomboyish 12th-grader with family troubles who finds a sense of belonging on a Bible Quiz team in Tacoma, Wash.

Ever since Walt Disney began turning out feature-length animated films, scholars, theologians and journalists have plumbed the depths of the simple morality tales for deeper religious meanings and messages. Was Snow White's eating of the poison apple an allusion to the Fall in the Garden of Eden? When the puppet maker Geppetto was swallowed by a whale, was that a veiled reference to Jonah in Hebrew Scriptures? Were Jiminy Cricket's initials in "Pinocchio" a hidden reference to Jesus Christ?

It sounds contrived, and it is. It sounds like a bit of a stunt, and it is that too. It may even sound boring, but that it is not. In fact, whip-smart filmmaking by writer-director Steven Knight and his team combined with Tom Hardy's mesmerizing acting make the micro-budgeted British independent "Locke" more minute-to-minute involving than this year's more costly extravaganzas. Though a dozen actors are listed in "Locke's" credits, Hardy is the only one who appears on screen in this real-time drama that unfolds inside a moving BMW during the 85 minutes it takes construction foreman Ivan Locke to make a nighttime drive from Birmingham to London.

Ads call Madonna's new movie "the erotic thriller of the year." But anyone under age 17 can see the pop star bare her breasts and make steamy love to Willem Dafoe in "Body of Evidence"--if they are accompanied by an adult. It's rated R. On the other hand, the movie industry's toughest warning to parents was given to the upcoming "Wide Sargasso Sea," an art-house film that has only modest lovemaking scenes compared to "Body of Evidence" or last year's R-rated "Basic Instinct."

In 1994, when Kimberly Peirce decided to make a short film about the life and tragic death of Brandon Teena, she didn't know that she was beginning a five-year odyssey that would result in the making of her first feature-length movie. Nor did she realize the difficulty of finding the story within the morass of contradictory details. And she had no idea that she was wading into a contentious and continuing debate over artistic license and a filmmaker's obligation to accuracy.

Except for the remarkable "The Sixth Sense," the hottest summer on record is finally beginning to show some signs of cooling down. The weekend's three new films all opened on the mild side, with only the Mafia comedy "Mickey Blue Eyes," starring Hugh Grant, demonstrating any sparkle, mainly with older audiences. "Mickey" came in at an estimated $10.4 million in its 2,573-theater debut, placing third.

The city is reviving the tradition of free family movies on Friday nights at the park. From Friday through Aug. 8, full-length movies, including "Beauty and the Beast" and "Homeward Bound," will be shown on a 12-foot screen at the new Arovista Park Amphitheater. Families are encouraged to bring blankets and beach chairs. Kathie DeRobbio of the city's Cultural Arts Division said there will also be live entertainment on certain Fridays.

It's only seven little letters, with a hyphen thrown in just for the heck of it, but to people in the know, the phrase "pre-Code" signifies cinematic buried treasure of the most satisfying kind. They're a sign of the secret life of American films, of a time after sound fully arrived in 1930 but before the enforcement of the moralistic Production Code in 1934.

In May 1997, the Los Angeles Times published J.R. Moehringer's heartfelt story "Resurrecting the Champ," chronicling the sad life of a professional boxer who was homeless and living on the streets. More than just a tale about the downfall of a sports figure, the article also dealt with Moehringer's relationship with "The Champ," as well as the writer coming to terms with his own father's abandonment of the family when he was a baby.

When a documentary interviewee says, "My dad has been collecting penises as long as I remember," you know you've entered some unusual film territory. Such is the case of "The Final Member," which revolves around the Icelandic Phallological Museum, an exhibit hall devoted to preserved male genitalia from a variety of mammalian species except one: human. And it's the quest for that holy grail of specimens that drives much - frankly too much - of co-directors Jonah Bekhor and Zach Math's decidedly quirky, at times unappetizing film.

A determined historical sweep masks a small-minded bid for easy outrage and heartstrings-pulling in the schematic World War II drama "Walking With the Enemy. " Set in 1944, when the war was essentially over for the Nazis but their reign of terror in occupied territories was still going strong, the movie focuses on the efforts of a young, displaced Hungarian Jew named Elek (Jonas Armstrong) to find his family after escaping from a camp, which turned into a concerted effort to save many Hungarian Jews.

Director Nick Cassavetes, whose soft touch with romance was behind that classic date movie "The Notebook," is now responsible for the quintessential anti-date movie - "The Other Woman. " There is no question whose side he is on in this little bit of rasty business starring Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann and Kate Upton. My advice to guys? Step away from the vehicle, because "The Other Woman" is out of control and intent on running down a certain kind of male. Even if you're not the lying, cheating, thieving type - that would be Mark, a slickster played by "Game of Thrones'" Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, juggling wife, mistress, other mistress and some other ill-gotten gains - there is bound to be collateral damage.

A resourcefully stylish indie sci-fi entry from Britain, "The Machine" drapes sleek visuals over an artificial intelligence tale set in a top-secret British government facility where robots are being developed to fight a cold war with China. Empathic computer genius Vincent (Toby Stephens) has more on his mind, however, than creating a weapon-strength, self-aware being for his military boss (Denis Lawson). Vincent imagines a revolutionary future in which the brain-damaged (be they wounded soldiers or his medically afflicted daughter)

As in many a thriller, the helpful stranger in "The German Doctor" turns out to be a monster. In this case, he's no run-of-the-mill sadist but Josef Mengele, Auschwitz's Angel of Death, and he finds prime subjects for experimentation in an Argentine family. The drama by Lucía Puenzo, adapting her novel "Wakolda," is a credible imagining of a brief period in Mengele's South American exile. The what-if conceit is intriguing enough not to be undone by increasingly heavy-handed symbolism.

Directorial acclaim never comes easy. When it hits, though, the results can be significant not only for the helmer but for cinema itself. We take a look back at the films that propelled some of today's most celebrated directors to prominence. Steven Spielberg: The slew of television shows and short films directed by Ohio native Steven Spielberg was just a preview of things to come from a man who has become perhaps the most commercially successful director of all time. His first major directorial effort, "The Sugarland Express" (1974)

Michael Verhoeven's film "The Nasty Girl" is Germany's entry in the foreign-language category in this year's Academy Awards. It is an occasionally surrealistic and often very funny account of a teen-aged Fraulein's distinctly unfunny and dangerous attempts to investigate the Nazi years in her hometown.

February 26, 1993 | SHAUNA SNOW, Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and
international news services and the nation's press

Now Here's the Lineup: Corbin Bernsen, Beau Bridges, John Lithgow, Shelley Winters and European filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier are among those scheduled to appear for the eighth annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which is expanding this year's "Evenings With" program from three nights to five. The March 5-14 festival will honor Winters' 50 years in the movies with a special salute, including a screening of her 1962 film "Lolita."

"Brick Mansions," Paul Walker's penultimate film (prior to "Fast & Furious 7"), is a dumb and ugly action picture that works strictly as a reminder of the late actor's head-turning good looks and modest charisma. Otherwise, this remake of the 2004 French thriller "District B13," directed by Camille Delamarre (editor of "Transporter 3" and "Taken 2"), is a dizzying mishmash of showy stunts, muddled narrative and some seriously risible acting and dialogue. Prolific filmmaker Luc Besson's screenplay, faithfully adapted from the "B13" script he wrote with Bibi Naceri, has relocated this dystopian crime tale from 2006 Paris to 2018 Detroit (as if the Motor City didn't have enough image problems)

"Next Goal Wins" is an irresistible underdog story - sports-fan credentials not required. The lively documentary follows the biggest loser in international soccer as it tries to break a 17-year winless streak. To use the word "organization" is putting too fine a point on it: The team in question resides in the South Pacific territory of American Samoa, and the volunteer players are about as far removed as you can get - geographically and every other way - from the business of high-profile, high-stakes athletics.